[CONTENTID1]♒ Kiss The Girl ♒[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

It was late in the night or early in the morning, depending, when they arrived to the castle gates. Like always, the iron wrought works were open and inviting, even with the sky dark and the ground wet. Hand in hand they walked in, following the sandstone path up the hill and through the front gardens. The castle soon towered over them with all lights surprisingly on, and a titter of voices.

Confused, Ulla pulled away from Olivia, moving a little faster up the trail, and by the time she reached the first step that would lead to the castle courtyard, she could see a mill of frantic looking people holding lanterns and arguing. Heading toward the closest person, the head groundskeeper whom she didn’t know the name of, Ulla asked, “What’s going on?”

The man sighed heavily, “The Queen’s sister has gone missing. The storm has just let up so we’re sending out a search party and-.” He turned to glance at the girl, doing a double take. Eyes wide he dropped his light source and pointed a crooked finger at her, “You’re her aren’t you? You’re the girl! I found her! She’s here!” The last part the man had croaked gruffly causing all heads to turn toward the duo.

Ulla was increasingly confused, but there was no time for explanations apparently, as the man as well as a maid came to drag her inside. Ulla only had enough time to turn and wish Olivia a safe trip home, to which the girl gave a tight smile and a small wave.

“What is this state you’re in?” Ariel clucked, as Joon pulled another pink tinted tissue from Ulla’s nose. “And why are your eyes so bloodshot?” the red head reprimanded again.

Ulla tried to bow her head in embarrassment, but Joon pushed her chin back up so he could insert more tissue in her nose. Looking away from him, she mumbled, “I fell. It was raining and I fell. I’m fine now.” This earned her a smack on the head. “Ow!” she yelped giving her sister a bewildered look.

Ariel glared at the girl. “It was raining? It was raining! Well no duh Ulla, it was practically a monsoon out there today. Why would you go wondering off like that? I know we went on a tour of the city yesterday, but that doesn’t mean you know the city well enough to go out on your own.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Ulla replied, “I just…I, uh, wanted to see my friend.”

“Friend?” Ariel questioned, “You went out to see a friend? You could have just asked; me, a guard, or even Joon! Do you know how worried he and the rest of us were when you just disappeared on him? If you wanted to see a friend we could have sent you in a carriage.”

At the regretful aura Ulla now exuded, Ariel decided to take a different approach. Petting the blondes head, Ariel sighed, “You aren’t from here, and while this is a great place to live, it can still be dangerous for the naïve and foreigners. Not many people know you are my sister, so next time, just…take someone with you okay?”

Ulla nodded, letting Joon pull the less pink tissues out again. As he did, Ariel stood up, with great effort, her giant tummy almost knocking Ulla in the head. “Alright,” she clapped her hand on Ulla’s shoulder, “I’ve been up all night, so I think I’ll go get some rest and inform Eric on what happened. He was also worried, but he didn’t want to overcrowd you. Joon, please finish treating my sister then get some rest as well.” Joon smiled at the woman and gave a slight bow.

As they were left alone, Ulla and Joon let the now common awkward silence lapse between them.

“So, what really happened,” Joon gave Ulla a look. “The Queen may talk of your naivety, but she is also not great at reading people. I know you didn’t just go to see you friend, so what really happened?”

Ulla stiffened, grief filling her. “I couldn’t tell Ariel. I wanted to; I don’t want to hide things from her, but this. Some bad things happened to her a few years ago, and it was...it was my mother’s fault.” Ulla sighed, and leaned back as Joon cleaned up all his first aid tools.

“Before,” she started, “You told me about your past.”

This time it was Joon’s turn to stiffen.

“You were very forthcoming and open about it; both the good and the bad. Now I want to tell you a bit about my past, and how it relates to the Queen.”

Joon sat back down, giving Ulla his full attention.

“When my mother was younger she fell in love with someone she went to school with. It was a time in my world where all were accepted and harmony reigned. I can’t go into too much detail about what happened between them or that time because I